Chapter 14 - Reach The Destination

Chapter 14 – Reach The Destination

"So, my encyclopedia is only useful for normal animals, A.K.A Grade E creature. Can I possibly get the encyclopedia for beasts and monsters?" Adrian mumbled.

He thought that with the first skill he got, he would be able to record data about a lot of creatures but it looked like that was not the case. The skill was limited to animals only and it was in line with his special stats which was animals.

'I don't think I can get the beasts and monsters encyclopedia unless I have the beasts or monsters special stat. I wonder if I can get those in the future?' Adrian thought.

While Adrian was in deep thought, he got another notification.

[Sickle Cut skill met the level up requirement. Do you want to level up the skill?] the system asked.

"Hmm?" Adrian read the notification. "That's right, the skill is only one more experience away from leveling up. I hit the rabbit twice in the fight, so, I can level up the skill," Adrian remembered.

"Yes, level up the skill," Adrian replied.

[Choose which parameter do you want to improve?

Effect – STR+10 [+1 STR]

Condition 1 – 3 Energy per use [-1 Energy]

Condition 2 – min STR 5 to use [-1 STR]

Choose only one]

"Oh? Is this how Progress let the skill level up?" Adrian was surprised.

In all other Fantasy games, when a skill level up, there was no need to ask the player about it. Once the skill met the condition, it would level up automatically. Not only that but the skill had a predetermined upgrade once it leveled up. The player had no authority to choose what kind of upgrade they could give to the skill.

[Here is a tip. Make sure you choose the right one. Your choices will affect many things down the road. I am not joking when I said this because I am the one designing this game… with a few other people,] Future spoke.

Hearing Future said that Adrian contemplated on what he should do. Since he was the first player in the game to be able to create a skill, he did not have anywhere else to get information.

"This is hard…" Adrian mumbled. He did not know what type of method was implemented in the skill and if he followed the normal road, since this was a level up, it was better to raise the effect of the skill.

"However, there are conditions on the skill. Lowering the Energy uses will let me use the skill more at the cost of lower Energy. Condition 2 is a bit useless if I upgrade it. My Strength stat is 9 and lowering that condition will not affect anything at all…" Adrian made his analysis.

"Perhaps, there will be many more penalties available that can lower the stats points? If that is the case, lowering Condition 2 will be beneficial if that happens… Wait, will status conditions that lower the stats count when using the skill?" Adrian thought of a more possibility.

When he thought of a status condition that could lower the stat, he saw the usefulness of upgrading Condition 2.

"Still, the best choice now is to lower the energy consumption. I choose to upgrade Condition 1," Adrian told his choice to the system.

[Level up complete. Sickle Cut is now Level 2.

Skill – Sickle Cut

Element – Farming Tools

Level – 2

Next Level – 1/20 Uses

Effect 1 – STR+10

Condition 1 – 2 Energy per use

Condition 2 – min STR 5]

"With the lower cost of Energy, I can spam the skill more than before," Adrian nodded as he was satisfied with his decision. Then, he had nothing else to do and decided to sleep. Since his Energy would not restore for more than 20 hours, he did not want to waste them.

He had wanted to sleep when Keith called him. Adrian picked up the call and saw Keith's battered face like he was hit by something in the face.

"…You got in a fight?" Adrian asked.

"…Yeah, and now, I am in a pinch. My sword broke and I don't have any weapon to use. Do you know any way I can get a new weapon? Try to ask Future for some tips," Keith spoke.

From the video call, Adrian could see that Keith was on a tree too. It looked like Keith met the same fate as him. Some beasts must have had attracted by the smell of the food and came to snatch it.

"Mine is broken too and I self-made a weapon with whatever I can find," Adrian replied.

"Oh~ Show me, I need some inspiration to do that too!" Keith was excited.

"…Urm, since you use a sword, try to make a wooden sword from branches or something," Adrian spoke. He was too embarrassed to show Keith his lousy weapon.

"Just show me. I need to see what you do to imagine what I can do," Keith insisted, and suddenly, both of them got a video call from Ceylon. They picked up the call and saw Ceylon who looked fine and he was on a tree too.

"Yo~ I saw you guys calling each other and you forgot about me? Let me join in the fun too," Ceylon spoke and he saw Keith's face before he started laughing. "Pfft! What is with your face?" Ceylon held his laughter.

"Shut it! I am not in the mood to talk about it," Keith rubbed his face and he looked at Adrian again, "Show me."

"Show what?" Ceylon was confused.

"My sword broke and I ask Adrian to show his self-made weapon because he also broke his weapon," Keith answered excitedly.

"Oh~ Adrian, are you going to take the path of smithing?" Ceylon asked.

"No. I need to make the weapon for safety and it is not a weapon at all. I just make it but did not plan to use it. Until I reach the Green Orchid Settlement, I will escape whatever creatures I meet on the road," Adrian told his plan.

"Adrian, please show me your weapon. I need inspiration," Keith begged.

"Just pick whatever branches you can find and use them like a sword. If you want a better one, try to sharpen it on a rock or something hard," Ceylon gave the same method to Keith.

"I know that but I just want to see Adrian's weapon. He is the best of us here and I just want to see it," Keith spoke.

"Then… I will show you," Adrian was reluctant to show it but his friends were about to start another fight.

Adrian took out his 'weapon' and showed them to Ceylon and Keith.

"…" Keith and Ceylon went silent. They did not say anything until five seconds later, Ceylon broke the silence, "It looks good."

"Yeah! It looks good," Keith followed. Adrian smiled at his two friends. He knew what he made was not a weapon. Even the appraisal said the same.

"Anyway, how did you get that… blade?" Ceylon asked while he pointed at the tooth Adrian stick at the 'weapon'.

"This? I defeat the Sharp Teeth White Rabbit and it dropped the tooth. So, this is the rabbit tooth," Adrian replied but the duo was silent.

"…You defeat a Grade D monster?" Ceylon broke the silence again with a shocked face.

"Grade D creatures are not monsters. They are beasts. Grade C and above are monsters," Adrian corrected Ceylon.

"That is not important. You defeat a Grade D mo- I mean beasts?" Ceylon asked again.

"Yeah, I get lucky and @#$#$%%%#" Adrian spoke about the skills he got but his voice suddenly broke and undecipherable for Ceylon and Keith to understand.

"Huh?" the trio was shocked but Adrian soon realized that Future filtered the information about skills. Maybe because they were supposed to get it once they reached the settlement but Adrian's effort made it possible to get it earlier.

However, if they wanted to get the skills earlier, they needed to figure it out by themselves. So, Future filtered the information.

"It looks like I cannot tell you what happens. Sorry guys," Adrian apologized to Keith and Ceylon but the duo was more surprised than before. They now knew Adrian did something and maybe it was something special.

"Lucky you!" Keith spoke. He was curious about it but since Adrian could not tell them about it, he gave up.

Still, Adrian could tell them once they logged out of the game. There was no way Future would be able to prevent that in real life. Unless Adrian tried to post it in a forum or something but Future would not be able to stop Adrian's mouth.

The trio talked for a bit more and ended the call after they had enough talking. The night ended without anything dangerous happened. In the morning, Adrian continued his journey to Green Orchid Settlement.

On the way there, Adrian did his best to not meet any dangerous creature. His Energy was stagnant at the same value unless Adrian ate something. So, he needed to stay away from trouble. He met a lot of normal animals but none of them were dangerous.

As for hunting the normal animals, Adrian could not do that. His 'weapon' was useless against them. He did try once but his 'weapon' broke easily. After that, he separated the tooth from the wooden handle. If a fight broke out, he would just rely on the wooden handle. Whether it would work or not, Adrian did not know because he did his best to stay away from dangerous creatures.

As Adrian was getting closer to Green Orchid Settlement, his surrounding started to change. The closer he got to the settlement, the more Green Orchid plants he could find around. He found a few of them before but not as abundant as what he could view now.

The orchid looked just like a normal orchid but the flower was green. Nothing special about it but considering them to be wild, if this was the real world, it would fetch a lot of money. Many orchid lover or collector would throw their money to get this wild orchid.

As Adrian got closer to the settlement, there were fewer and fewer creatures around that he could found. A few hours later, Adrian got out of the forest and he arrived outside the settlement.

"…It really is a settlement," Adrian mumbled while looking at Green Orchid Settlement in front of him.